Making Digital Prints

It is essential that you have a solid understanding of scanning and editing before you start to print. Otherwise, you will probably end up frustrated and waste a lot of paper and ink.

We use photo-quality pro model inkjet printers and specialized printing programs to produce prints that are arguably the best in Fairbanks. Our equipment is capable of making art-quality prints. There are two basic workflows: one for b/w, the other for color.

Printer Basics:

• Always do a nozzle check before starting a large print or if the printer has been off for a while. Use plain laser paper for nozzle checks.
• Handle the good paper carefully and try not to touch the printable surface any more than necessary.
• Remember to set the paper type (sheet or roll) on both the printer and the RIP.
• If you replace an ink cartridge, be sure to let Kim know in case more should be ordered. Be very careful when replacing black that you're putting the correct kind of black in the the correct printer.
• These printers are USB and due to the way that the RIP works you should not use any other USB devices at the same time, such as plugging in a camera or USB memory key.
• The smallest paper that the 7600 can take is letter (8 1/2 x 11).

Imageprint Basics:

• The Imageprint preview window is not very accurate for either color or b/w. Color images can be previewed very accurately in Photoshop but b/w images really can't. You've just got to learn how it will look.
• The layout is very intuitive. You can print more than one file using more than one profile.
• Be sure you're choosing the correct profile for grayscale, paper, and inkset. Use the ECWF2 profiles for general color printing. They are balanced for cool white fluorescent lighting.
• Select the paper type (roll or sheet) and then go back to the prevew and resize or recenter if necessary. Sometimes you have to do this twice. The printer can't print the first or last 1/2" of the paper but it can print almost to the left and right edges.
• If a file needs to be sized up for printing, do not do it in Photoshop as this just makes a bigger file and slows things down. Resize the print in Imageprint.
• With the 7600s, use 1440 4-pass for printing. With the 4000 use 1440 4-pass high speed. 720 is faster but it's not accurate for color or tone. 2880 rarely makes anything look better but it slows things down a lot.

B/W printing:

• The file needs to be in grayscale for b/w prints. RGB files will not print correctly.
• Choose the correct gray profile in Imageprint for the paper and inks.
• It is not possible to get a really accurate preview of how the file will print on the paper, but after a while you will get a sense of it.

Color printing:

• Before you print, you must soft proof the file in Photoshop. This basically makes the file look as it will on paper, with any color cast that the paper might have as well as the greatly reduced gamut of paper. The file will look very dull to you but it will be accurate. Be sure to choose the correct profile in Photoshop-the same one you will use to print. You may need to do color correction at this point.
• Open the file in Imageprint but ignore the preview color. Use the preview for layout only.

After the prints are done:

• Put the prints on the drying racks. Matte surface papers dry quickly and can be sent out in an hour. RC papers (luster and glossy) need to cure for at least overnight, with a sheet of copier paper on them to absorb the chemicals from the inks. The prints are pretty tough but it's a good idea to layer them with copier paper between them if they are going to be handled much. Collection development reference prints do not need to be layered.

September 15, 2004